why is it that people claim they can't live without things that until

[mark414]

recently did not exist?

i am thinking of cell phones...ipods...those pda things...

are we that stupid or are our memories just that short that we don't remember that we all got along just fine before these dumb things were invented?

[bluethruandthru]

1. I remember when I thought faxing was just short of

miraculous! Now, I almost never send a fax..it feels so old fashioned!

[Redstone]

6. I threw my fax machine away four years ago.

All I was getting was junk.

Redstone

[enigmatic]

2. I remember when beepers were all the rage

and the latest in communications and technology; you were nobody if you didn't have one. I hate phones/beepers w/ a passion, so I never felt the need to get one.

Beepers lasted as long as the Pet Rock it seems; a classic example of disposible culture..

[mark414]

3. it's all pretty ridiculous

i bought a cell phone when i first got my own place a few years ago...and ended up throwing the thing out of a car window a year and a half later. i always want to ask people what they did before they had cell phones - did they just sit in their house all day and wait for the phone to ring? put the damn thing down!

PS you're needed here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5606241&mesg_id=5606241

[Pool Hall Ace]

12. I remember thinking that I absolutely had to have a beeper.

One of the students that I tutored was even going to get me one for a reasonable price. Somehow, I never did get one. Now, many years later, I can't even remember why I wanted one!

[Floogeldy]

4. Who claims that they cannot live without those things?

?

[Redstone]

7. Lots of people. And they MUST be addicted, especially to cellphones.

Mrs R has even turned into a goddamn phone-fiddler. We go somewhere in the car, and within ten minutes she's got the damn cellphone out and fooing around with it, until I lose my temper and tell her to shut the goddamn beeping thing off and talk to me.

Redstone

[bluethruandthru]

9. Wow....

I husband who actually wants to talk to his wife!
I'm jealous!

[Redstone]

10. Yes, there are still a few of us around.

Redstone

[Sugar Smack]

13. LOL! How many celphones have you thrown out of car windows?

:spray: :rofl:

[Redstone]

5. Well, I don't have a cell phone or an ipod, but I can tell you that

central air has been a godsend to me, given my heat intolerance from MS.

I'd probably not be able to work in the summer without it.

Redstone

[bertha katzenengel]

8. Through history, luxuries have had a way of becoming necessities.

:shrug:

[Bunny]

11. I remember life before ATM machines.

When, if you needed cash, you actually had to go to a bank. Soon afterward the wheel was invented, and the rest is history.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

14. .

:rofl: I've had ATM acess all of my life. I don't know what I'd do without credit cards or ATM machines :shrug:

[Nikia]

15. On a little bit larger time scale I thought of this yesterday

When the electricity went out for a couple hours. It was overcast so we barely could see and had to actually open our blinds. We couldn't use the computer or television. I thought that it would be a good time to get caught up on some house cleaning, but I realized that I couldn't use the vacuum cleaner and couldn't do laundry. We were hungry but couldn't cook anything on our electric range or heat anything in the microwave. We were afraid to even open the refrigerator, not being sure how long the power outage would last.
We get used to a certain way of life that people generations before of us didn't have. It becomes part of our culture and way of living.

[FILAM23]

16. I know what you mean

Personally I can't wait until I retire,
no more cell phones and beepers hanging on me belt.
No more computers and internet.

edited to add: ATM's and debit cards, I've never had
either and never ted to

[texanwitch]

17. I have a cell phone for work, wish I didn't have to.

I was on the bus the other day and there were 3 people who did nothing but talk on their cell phones the whole 30 minutes I was on the bus.

Now because of cell phones there are fewer pay phones, so you need to have a cell phone.

We did just fine without cell phones before.

The only thing I would miss would be the internet.